Madrid  - Spanish scientists have used modern technology to translate and classify a third of the 10,000 Arabic inscriptions covering the walls of the 14th-century Moorish palace-fortress of the Alhambra in Granada, press reports said Friday.

The classified inscriptions were inside the Comares Palace at the reddish citadel which is counted among Spain's most popular tourist attractions.

Contrary to popular belief, most of the inscriptions were not poems or verses of the Koran, said Juan Castillo, director of the project.

The inscriptions contained numerous references to the Nasrid dynasty which ruled Granada, the last of Spain's Moorish kingdoms to fall to what is known as the Christian reconquest of the country, in 1492.

Few tourists visiting the Alhambra understand the meaning of the decorative inscriptions covering walls, arches and pillars in the buildings making up the monument.

The ones inside the Comares Palace include praises to Allah, proverbs, poetic verses and more than 1,000 repetitions of the motto of the Nasrid dynasty: "There is no other winner than Allah."

"Be frugal with words and you will go in peace," another inscription advises.

The Alhambra inscriptions were carved to proclaim the Islamic faith, but also as a "publicity tool to spread the philosophy of the dynasty," the daily El Mundo quoted Castillo as saying.

The inscriptions were photographed, translated, classified and stored on a DVD.

All of the Alhambra inscriptions, a part of which had already been translated before the current project, are due to become available in Spanish by 2010. (dpa)